The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1887-11-03
A MACHINE THAT WILL TALK.
A Perfected Machine That Will Work A
Revolution.

Edison has got the most wonderful labo.
ratory on the face of the earth. LIE has
erected at Llewsllyn Park, in Orange,
N. j., three buildings Of brick. Each is
one hundred feet long by fifty wide, and
each has four stories. These buildings
are being supplied with every known
material which could possibly be made
use of.
Mr.. Edison has been talking to re-
porter of the Evening Post and has been
telling some marvellous tales about his
perfected phonograph. Hear him:
THE WONDERFUL PHoNoGRAPH.
"You know that I finished the first
phonograph more than ten years ago. 1t
remained more or less of toy. The
germ of something wonderful was per-
fectly distinct, but tried the impossible
with it, and when the electric light busi-
ness assumed commercial importance I
threw everything overheard for that.
Nevertheless the phonograph has been
more or less constantly in my mind ever
since. When resting from prolonged
work upon the light my brain would re-
vert almost automatically to the old idea.
Since the light has been finished have
taken up the phouograph, and after eight
months Of steady work have made it a
commercial invention.
"My phonoSraph I expect to see in
every business Office. The first FIVE hun
dred will, l hope, be ready for distrihu-
ton about the end of January. Their
operation is simplicity itself, and cannot
fail. The merchant or clerk who wishes
to send a letter has only to see the ma
chine in motion and to talk in his natu-
raj voice and at thu nsualratte Of speed
into the receiver. When he has finished,
the sheet, or 'phonogram,' as I call it, is
ready for putting into little box made
on purpose for the mails. We are
making the sheets into three sizes-one
| for letters Of from 800 to 1000 words,
another size for 1000 words, another size
for 1000 words. I expect that an ar
rangement may be made with the post
Office authorities enabling the phonogram
boxes to be sent at the same rate as a
letter.
LISTENING TO THE MESSAGE.
"The receiver of a phonogram will put
it into his apparatus and the message
will be given out more clearly, more dis
tinctly than the best telephone message
ever sent. The tones of the voice in the
two Photographs which have finished
are so perfectly rendered that one car
distinguish between twenty different per
SONS each one of whom has said fen
words. One tremendous advantage il
that the letter may be repeated a thou
sand times if necessary. The phono
gram does not wear out by use; more
over, it may be filed away for hundred
years and be ready the instant it is need
ed. If a man dictates his will to th'
phonograph there will he no disputinl
the authenticity of the document witt
those who knew the tones of his voice
in life. The cost of making the phono
gram will be scarcely more than the cos
of ordinary letter paper. The machine
will read out the letter or message at tht
same speed with which it was dictated
"I have experimental with a device
for enabling printers to set type directl!
from the dictation of the phonograph
and think that it will work to charm
1t is so arranged that the printer, b.
touching a lever with his foot, allow
FIVE or ten words of the phonogram to b.
sounded. IF he is not satisfied with tn
first hearing he can make it repeat tn
same words over and over again until b
has them in type. For busy men VIII
dictate great deal for the press, an
sure that the phonograph will be a ne
cessity after very little experience.
TAKING DOWN AN OPERA.
"For musicians the phonograph
going to do wonders, owing to the ex
treme cheapness with which can dupli
cate phonograms and the delicacy wit
which the apparatus gives outall musica
sounds. In the early phonograph of te
years ago, which was very imperfee
and crude affair compared to that of to
day, it was always noticed that musica
sounds came out peculiarly we'll; tn
machine would whistle or sing far bette
than it would talk. This popularity {
the phonograph remains. l have take
down the music of an orchestra, and tn
result is marvellous; each instrument ca
be perfectly distinguished, the strings ar
perfectly distinct, the yiolins from tn
cellos, the wind instruments and tn
wood are perfectly heard, and even in tn
notes of a violin the over-tones are dis
tinct to a delicate ear. 1t is going
work wonders for the benefit of must
lovers. A piece for any instrument, fa
the piano or for an orchestra, or an ac
or the whole of an opera, musical instrr
ments and voices can be given out by tn
phonograph with beauty of tone and
distinctness past belief, and the duplica
ting apparatus for phonograms is S
cheap an affair that the price of musi
for hephonograph will be scarcely wort
considering. AS the phonogram will b
practically indestructible by ordinar
use such music can be played over an
over again.
AN ELECTRIC MOTOR.
"NIy first phoncgraph, as you remeu
ber, consisted simply of roller carryin
the foil and provided with diaphragm
point properly arranged to scrape or ii
dent the foil. The roller was turned b
hand. In the new instrument there